***$300,000 Limited program for Stanford faculty with PI eligibility. Stanford has been invited to submit two applications for the following award. Therefore, a university-wide internal selection process is required. This program is designed to support high-risk, high-reward projects that address critical scientific and therapeutic roadblocks.

The target of the Falk Catalyst’s funding are projects at the intersection of technology and clinical science, intended to move from insights gained from basic science towards creating solutions, techniques and tools that can be transferred to clinical practice in the near term.Please see eligibility, research focus, catalyst award description and FAQ highlights below.

The internal selection process for 2017 has been completed. This webpage is for your reference only.

Sponsor website:https://hria.org/tmf/falkcap/
The guidelines, forms and FAQs are available on the above webpage. However, please be sure to read the Stanford eligiiblity criteria below.

Amount of funding:
One-year awards of up to $300,000 (inclusive of 10% indirect costs)
Grant period:
November 30, 2017 - November 29, 2018.
The number of Catalyst Awards available will be determined by the Trustee each year, depending on the availability of funds and the merit of the applications received.

Eligibility
Invited Institutions may nominate up to two individual investigators who meeting the following eligibility requirements to submit an application:

Hold a full-time faculty appointment**

Are independent investigator (s) with demonstrated institutional support and the specialized space and facilities needed to conduct the proposed research

CE faculty are not eligible for this particular RFP based on a review of the criteria and the program announcement by Dr. Harry Greenberg Senior Associate Dean for Research.

Not eligible: Instructors, Clinical Instructors, Academic staff-research are not eligible because Stanford does not consider them to be independent or faculty-level appointments

Applicants may not have funding support for a similar project

United States citizenship is not required; visa documentation is not required

One Principal investigator (Applicant) must be identified as the lead PI of the award, who will be responsible for all grant reporting and fiscal management. The lead PI will be the main contact for budget and reporting management. (The PI may only submit one internal proposal)

If applicable, up to one Co-Principle Investigator (faculty member with PI eligibility) may be identified; the application should describe the need for a Co-PI and multiple PI management coordination.

Co-Investigators must provide a major intellectual contribution to the project. Co-Investigators may share Award funding.

Purpose:The Catalyst Awards provide an opportunity to conduct preliminary work on high-risk, high-reward research addressing a wide variety of clinical disease areas. The target of the Falk Catalyst’s funding are projects at the intersection of technology and clinical science, intended to move from insights gained from basic science towards creating solutions, techniques and tools that can be transferred to clinical practice in the near term. The Catalyst Awards are a stepping stone to eligibility for the Falk Transformational Awards Program. In order to be funded Catalyst research projects must describe specific milestones and benchmarks that if successfully met, would then enable recipients to apply for additional funding through the two-year Transformational Awards program.

The Catalyst Research Award provides one-year seed funding to help investigators lay the foundation for the Transformational Award. Select institutions are invited to submit up to two applications per grant cycle.

The Transformational Research Award provides two-years of additional research funding to support successful projects funded by a Catalyst Award and help them achieve their final goals. Applications will be accepted only from prior Catalyst awardees that have successfully achieved the proposed benchmarks and milestones outlined in their Catalyst Award proposals.

The Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust, U. S. Trust, Bank of America N.A., Trustee, works with The Medical Foundation, a division of Health Resources in Action (HRiA), to select the most qualified applicants. HRiA is a nonprofit organization in Boston, MA that advances public health and medical research through the creation and oversight of biomedical research grant programs.

The Catalyst Awards:
The Catalyst Research Award Program provides one-year of seed funding to enable planning and development of projects, teams, tools, techniques and management infrastructure necessary to successfully compete for two-year awards through the Transformational Research Award Program. Successful applications will describe the objectives of an overall research program, and provide a detailed timeline outlining the milestones and benchmarks expected to be achieved during the course of the one-year Catalyst Research Award. The work proposed in the Catalyst submission will serve to demonstrate the scientific promise, infrastructure, methods and preliminary data in support of further transformational research. Achievement of the milestones in the Catalyst proposal should indicate that the proposed innovation has sufficient promise to warrant further investment through a subsequent Transformational award.

Applications should be responsive to one of the three principle areas of Research Focus of this program listed below >>.

Applications must include clear, achievable milestones that will result in projects that will be expected to have high impact on improving the lives of individuals suffering from disease.

Research Focus (required):
This program is designed to support high-risk, high-reward projects that address critical scientific and therapeutic roadblocks. If successful, these projects will open new avenues for treating and curing disease. The Program has three principal areas of focus:

1. Identification of biological markers of disease activity and progression,

2. Identification of targets for therapeutic interventions, and

3. Development of therapeutic agents that will disrupt, arrest, or prevent the disease process.

FAQ highlights:

What is the goal of the Falk Trust Catalyst Award?
The Catalyst Research Award Program provides one year of seed funding to support high-risk, high-reward projects that address critical scientific and therapeutic roadblocks. The program is designed to enable planning and development of projects, teams, tools, techniques and management infrastructure necessary to successfully compete for a two-year award through the Transformational Research Award Program.
What types of Catalyst proposals will be most competitive?(important)
The Falk Foundation is interested in transformational efforts to cure disease and reduce suffering. Therefore, proposals that seek to develop proof of concept for future technology transfer, either in treatment or diagnosis, will be most competitive. Catalyst Award proposals that establish milestones that effectively test the clinical utility of science-based innovation, it may realistically result in products or ideas that will be available for technology transfer the end of the three-year catalyst/transformational awards cycle are most likely to gather positive reviews. The reviewers will include not only scientists, but also individuals with experience in technology transfer and biotech. Translational research, as described by NIH, covers a lot of ground from basic science to health services research. For those investigators who have previous experience with NIH awards, this is most similar to the small business innovation research award program, rather than an R01 mechanism.

Collaborations:
The Trust encourages the use of collaborations between industry, government, academic and disease advocacy organizations. Awards will be made via a contract awarded to a single institution responsible for satisfying the administration, performance and reporting requirement of the contract. Other collaborating organizations, both non-profit and for-profit, may be sub-contracted to the lead institution and must designate a lead principal investigator who is responsible for performance under the contract.
In support of this collaborative approach, the Catalyst Program may provide funding to investigators for:

Identifying any competencies necessary to complete the project that are not available within the applicant institution,

Identifying collaborators who will provide those competencies,

Building relationships and negotiating contracts between institutions,

Internal development of critical expertise or tools that are not available from external sources, and

Building the management infrastructure to support future project proposals.

Review Criteria:

1. Has the applicant demonstrated the significance of the research proposal relative to the Falk Foundation mission and research focus of the Transformational Award Program?

2. Are the specific aims measurable and feasible within the timeline proposed, and will they constitute a firm foundation to warrant eligibility for subsequent Transformational Award funding? Do they relate directly to specific and unambiguous milestones that, if achievable, would demonstrate sufficient progress to warrant further research and development?

4. Is the team capable of carrying out the proposed research, and do they have the necessary infrastructure, experience and support to do so?

5. Overall, is there a clear clinical and scientific rationale by which achievement of the specific milestones and benchmarks in this proposal demonstrates sufficient promise towards achieving high impact in addressing human disease? Will the achievement of the proposed milestones constitute a firm foundation to warrant eligibility for subsequent Transformational Award funding?

6. How clearly does the summary table demonstrate the relationship between aims, milestones, and benchmarks, and the projected sequence of activities proposed? Will this table serve as a clear template for subsequent progress reports and application for a Transformational award?

7. Applicants should be mindful of proper formatting and general proof reading standards and review proposals thoroughly before submitting.

INTERNAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

By Tuesday, June 6, 2017, 5 p.m., please submit one PDF file containing the following in the order listed below to:

2) Research Project description: up to 4 pages
Include your specific aims, methods, milestones and benchmarks (refer to FAQs, research focus)References and illustrations are not included in the page total.
Format: single-spaced, one-sided, Arial or Helvetica font size 11 or larger, 1/2 margins

4) Biosketches- for the PI , Co-PI (if applicable), and Co-investigators-- (including current and pending other support-sponsor name, term, amount of funding)

Selection process
Your proposals will be reviewed by Dr. Peter Sarnow and the School of Medicine Awards committee. That committee will select the two applicants to represent the university.